Trump Calls Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “Two-Faced”
Donald Trump is again making himself the center of attention at a gathering of world leaders. Currently, members of NATO are gathered in London to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the alliance's founding. On Tuesday, he called French president Emmanuel Macron "very nasty," while giving often contradictory opinions on world events. And on Wednesday, he lashed out at Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, calling him "two-faced."
Trump's comments came after a video showed Trudeau speaking with Macron and British prime minister Boris Johnson at a party, apparently mocking Trump while not referring to him by name. The gathering happened after Macron and Trump appeared together earlier in the day. "Is that why you were late?" Johnson asks Macron. "He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top," Trudeau said, apparently referring to Trump. Macron gave an inaudible response, and Trudeau later replied, "You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor."
When asked about Trudeau's comments on Wednesday, Trump said, "Well, he’s two-faced. Honestly with Trudeau, he’s a nice guy. I find him to be a very nice guy. But the truth is that I called him out on the fact that he’s not paying two percent, and I guess he’s not very happy about it."
He added, "It's Canada, they have money, and they should be paying two percent, so I called him out on that and I'm sure he wasn't happy about that, but that’s the way it is. Look, I'm representing the U.S., and he should be paying more than he's paying, and he understands that. So I can imagine he's not that happy, but that's the way it is."
The "two percent" Trump mentioned refers to the commitment by NATO members to put two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense. Canada, currently spending 1.4 percent, is one of the 22 of 29 NATO members that have not reached that goal. The U.S. is the biggest contributor to NATO, and Trump has repeatedly depicted the alliance as exploitative—a point that seems rather odd for a hotelier known to stiff curtain makers. Haranguing other member states into paying more is one of his biggest priorities. Per NPR:
"Where are you at? What is your number?" Trump asked Trudeau during their meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit outside London. Trudeau responded that Canada had, in fact, increased its spending on defense over the past few years. That did not appear to placate Trump, who pressed on: "Where are you now in terms of your number?"
After the video went viral, Trump abruptly canceled a previously scheduled news conference. He wrote on Twitter that he did so "because we did so many over the past two days."
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Originally Appeared on GQ
